


burn away your fears

by emblem_oracle



Series: Fictober 2016 [4]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Alcohol, Fictober 2016, Kissing, M/M, Morning After, Sex, first-time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 12:55:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8446615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emblem_oracle/pseuds/emblem_oracle
Summary: Prompt: Hearth// Ike awakens to the result of too much alcohol and a secret affection he never knew he had. Fictober 2016 entry. Final (Week Four) submission.





	

**Author's Note:**

> My final entry for Fictober. Hope you all enjoyed the ride :)

Raven hair was strewn across crisp white pillows, scarlet eyes closed to both him and the world. He was breathing but he inhaled air so quietly that it was easy to mistake him for dead.

It was so rare that Soren slept.

_[Pale hands found his and Soren pulled him away from the adoring soldiers and the royals which he had led to victory..._

_Ike grinned as he fell into step beside him, content to follow wherever Soren wanted to go]._

Ike's feet hung over the straw mattress' edge, the bed frame hard and uncomfortable. Soren fit better but even he had to sleep while being partially pushed up against a wall.

If only its intended person slept in it, the bed would have seemed much more comfortable. It was a bed in Mainal Cathedral, after all. However, that wasn't the case.

The bed was not fit for two.

_[Lips were red and raw, the only taste the alcohol._

_He couldn't remember who started what. Who leaned in first, who took the first dive, who took it deeper. Their inexperience was evident in a lot of ways; in their hesitations and the occasional knock of teeth._

_But Ike could look past that and so could Soren._

_Backed up against the wall, Soren looked particularly scandalized with his hair hanging loose from their ties. Given their positions, maybe Ike had taken the first taste…_

_When Ike could push himself away from the moment and think he was surprised with himself._

_'Soren and I?']_

Soren's lips twitched, eyes becoming crinkled as he stiffened. He mumbled under his breath, fingers clutching at the bed sheets in something like fear. Ike ran fingers through Soren's raven hair in a gesture meant to comfort.

The wine had lost its power on him and now Ike could only contemplate what he'd done.

He didn't regret it. He couldn't regret it.

But Soren…

Soren was complicated. And he had also been very drunk.

Was this what he had wanted? Ike had wanted it but had Soren felt the same? Would this ruin things if he hadn't?

_[Somehow they had gotten back to Soren's quarters; lips still raw and clothes dishevelled. Soren glanced at the bed, walking over on unsteady feet._

_"Soren, are you sure?" Ike mumbled through the haze of alcohol. The mage nodded, hair falling across his face._

_"Yes, Ike."_

_Hands slowly bore skin and it burned]._

Light was beginning to spill through the curtains and Ike still hadn't slept anything more than a few hours. Not only that but Soren would be up soon and Ike still didn't know what he was going to do when that happened. Apologise? Explain himself?

Instead of give into his doubts, Ike dressed and went over to ignite the fireplace.

_[Soren's nails dug into his skin, fingers shaking. He was trying so hard not to let him bleed._

_"It's alright, Soren."_

_"I-Ike…"_

_"I can handle it."_

_The nails slowly began to grip. Ike grunted and hugged him closer, caught up in the warm breath and the feeling]._

The fireplace wrapped the room in its warm glow and Ike studied the flames as they were whipped by the draft. He continued to watch even when the contrast of the flames to the otherwise dark room made his eyes sting and left outlines across his vision.

The feeling of the mage's skin lingered, no matter how much he wanted to shake the warmth away. Soren was his tactician. His friend. Not only were their actions unprofessional but…

That feeling…

It was something he had never felt before.

Was it love? Attraction? Ike had no care for things like that. He never had. Still, Ike could not ignore it now. He would not deny reality.

As the light became more prominent outside, Soren began to shift. He grumbled something, the blanket shifted, and then the mage sat up with his hand pressed to his forehead. His hair was messier than the night before, his hair ties lost somewhere under the covers. The blanket fell to his waist, exposing the scarred skin beneath.

"Morning," Ike said and Soren blinked. It seemed to take him a moment to put the pieces together, signalled only by the widening of his eyes. Soren's gaze fixated on Ike's face; searching for a sign, an answer. Ike scratched his cheek.

"Come over here," Ike said eventually, patting the space beside him. "I think we need to talk."

[ _The sensation was all his mind could focus on. The chill of Soren's skin, his thin fingers which both clung and soothed. Ike held Soren close and mumbled a confession, an admission, a feeling._

_Soren looped his arm around his neck and then Ike grew tired of talking]._

X-X-X

Soren's hair was more straw-like than smooth; an after-effect of so much war. Ike couldn't say much more about his own hair. They were barely in their twenties and already established war heroes… It was a daunting thought. Ike doubted he would ever escape the wars or his actions within them.

However...

"Soren… a few years from now I'm going to go away."

Soren shifted and scarlet eyes bore into him. "Go away? What do you mean?"

"Away from Tellius. Away from my reputation and everything I have done to deserve it."

Soren's eyebrows creased. "The war will always follow you, Ike… even if your reputation doesn't. That is the tragedy of war."

"I know. I know that the nightmares will return. Of what was lost. Of what I've done… But, still, I want to leave. I have done all I can here."

"…you will go alone?" Soren's voice was quiet.

"If you don't wish to come along," Ike said.

"Are you asking me?"

"Yeah."

Ike couldn't help but smile as Soren's hand slowly looped around his wrist. Soren's skin was always cold but it felt hot now in the fire's wake. They turned back to face the fireplace and watched as the ashes fell to the hearth, the answer unspoken yet heard. 

 


End file.
